Preparations for Baby #2

Yesterday was my due date, which obviously came and went with no squishy baby to show for it. Normal? Of course.

While I'm not sure if I've technically "nested" (except the day I decided to vacuum out my car perhaps), we have done some stuff to prepare for our newest family member.

1. Getting the nursery ready (even though we won't use it for a few months)

Cora is staying in her room, and our office has turned into a nursery/office for now. We'll get the desk out of there when the need arises.

The empty space in the center bottom is where her name will go!

2. Getting Cora's room decorated
I had been meaning to do this since, um, August, when I repainted her room and decided on a coral and navy blue color scheme. So it was about time, but I knew we would switch some furniture out and rearrange so I let it sit.

 I made the 'artwork' with some art canvases covered in fabric. Then I cut shapes out of some other fabric and used fabric glue to attach. Easy project (although my stapler was not very good, and I ended up bringing home my work stapler to finish it. A staple gun is the best option, but the staples in ours were too big and stuck out too far.)

I think I still want to add some navy blue curtains to the window, and then we'll call it mostly done.

3. Buying new pajama pants
When I was pregnant with Cora, I had a short "pregnancy vs. x" series on the blog, with topics like Pregnancy vs. Habitat for Humanity and Pregnancy vs. A Music Festival. Well, this time around, pregnancy didn't stand in my way much. However, if I had to pick something to remember, it would be "Pregnancy vs. Pajama Pants."

I have ripped--the the point of needing to throw out--not just one, but TWO of my favorite pairs of pajama pants. They're the Old Navy lightweight cotton ones that I've had for YEARS, and they were the only pjs that still fit on my expanding bottom. The first pair didn't make it through the second trimester due to my own clumsiness in trying to put them on and stepping my foot right into the crotch part. On Wednesday, my second pair broke (also in the crotch) when I was cleaning up the house and squatting down to pick stuff up. I went to Old Navy on Friday and bought another pair (a size up, ugh). I even tried them on, which I don't recommend to any 40-weeks pregnant lady, like ever.

My newest pair. May they last as long as the old ones.

4. "Practicing" labor
Ugh. We thought I was in labor the day before I was due. Steady contractions all day long, but they were very mild. They never got more intense. I went to work the whole day and timed them with an app on my phone. Everyone was excited for me and was hoping to hear good news soon. My mother-in-law drove up to stay with us, expecting that she would be taking care of Cora while we were at the hospital.  But it never progressed to anything more than mild contractions.

I slept a bit, then woke up a bit nauseous on Friday morning (my due date) and decided not to go into work. Then it all just stopped. No more contractions, no more labor. I guess I ended up taking a "mental health day." I was mad. I felt like I was letting everyone down. And I was tired of getting texts from anyone and everyone about 'how was I doing, do you need anything?' (I think a lot of this was due to lack of sleep. Although I still don't want the bothersome texts.) I got hit by the one-two punch of prodromal labor, and I'm not a fan.

5. Looking at pretty nursing-friendly dresses online

Isn't this gorgeous? I still can't figure out if it's my size (it's a one-off listing on Ebay), and I have no desire to jump through the hoops for a return, so I'm refraining. But darnit, it's so pretty.

This dress on Amazon is also on my list.

6. Zumba and cartwheels
I think I've started to become a legend at Zumba, what with showing up the day after my due date for class. But I had so much energy this morning, and probably sweat harder than I had in the past 2 months.

40 weeks, 1 day, after sweating it out at Zumba Toning class!

I also did 2 cartwheels after the Tuesday class (during week 39), and it, uh, kinda hurt. As evidenced in this video:



Well, that's pretty much all the preparations we have made (aside from a half-packed hospital bag). Baby can come out now if she wants!

7QT: 35 Weeks and Scatter-brained

--- 1 ---

I've felt the urge to blog for the past 2 weeks, but after staring at a computer all day at work, I just can't bring myself to type something up. Sigh. I've also been going through some type of sluggish/manic cycle, where I go hours or days too tired to get anything done and then get a wave of energy and knock a bunch of stuff out in the course of a few hours. Is this a pregnancy thing? I'm blaming it, regardless.

--- 2 ---

Speaking of that, I bought some stuff to make some adorable baby headbands and bows that I saw on Pinterest. I'm of course excited to do it . . . I just have to muster up the energy this weekend to bang a few out. Even Cora is excited about this, so I guess I should just suck it up buttercup. (Cora can't really help too much since it's pretty much all hot-glue-gun work.)

Life Unfluffed's tutorial for these puppies

I could probably pin cute hairbows and headbands all day long. I never really did like the ones we put on Cora as a baby (the crochet headbands were just too big for her little head).

--- 3 ---

Another 'manic' thing I've been doing when the energy hits is some freezer meal prepping. I had never really done much of this until my book club friends had a freezer meal swap night back in November. We each made 3 of the same dinner and brought it, then went home with 3 different meals. We also talked about strategies and favorite recipes that night. One gal brought copies of her favorite freezer meal recipes (I think they're from a book), and I've been using some of those, along with this Aldi freezer meal plan from the blogosphere.

It's not much to some people, but that's 4 meals: baked ravioli, mac & cheese, Souvlaki chicken, and alfredo sauce

I'm not sure if these will make it to "new baby" time, but with both of us working, freezer meals really are awesome. B just pulled out the bag of Quesadilla Casserole filling Thursday night (we just assemble it the night of, unlike that recipe I linked), and last night I made a double of the Alfredo sauce from the Aldi plan (one to eat now, one to freeze). We still have enough of the casserole left for at least another dinner.

--- 4 ---

I had a 2014 resolution to kick Cora's picky eating habits. It never happened.

But then.

But then she turned 3 about a month ago. And guess what--someone's picky little tot learned the benefit of 'cause and effect.' I know, I know, I'm not supposed to use sugary foods and desserts to get her to eat her dinner (says all the scientists and child nutrition experts). But goshdarnit, it works!

She also responds to a bribe for her beloved cottage cheese, so all is not lost?

We enjoyed some (fake...microwaved) s'mores for dessert Wednesday night, because I was craving one and she'd eaten all her fish and some veggies.

--- 5 ---

My hometown in Georgia got some snow this week, and I have a lot of friends with school-age kids and even more friends (and family members) who are teachers. Everyone was so jazzed about the snow and school cancellations.

Then Thursday, we had a bit of snow here, and I heard the DJ on the radio say, "Yeah, there's some snow, but amazingly no delays or cancellations today." I'm pretty sure every parent in this city breathed a collective sigh of relief that morning, since they cancel/delay school a lot here.

And that's the difference between Georgia and Indiana. (Not saying one is better than the other, although I wouldn't mind just getting a few inches of snow once a year and being giddy about it . . .)

--- 6 ---

So Lent started last week. For accountability's sake, here are my Lenten resolutions:

1. Go to Stations of the Cross at least once. (Yeah, I haven't been in YEARS and don't even remember what happens at this.)
2. Floss my teeth every night. (Sounds odd, but so does giving up chocolate, right?)
3. Read/pray the daily devo from Blessed Is She. They come straight to my email, and I'm really liking these!

If you want to join the Lenten bandwagon, I found out about this cool website/Twitter account called What to Give Up that gives you a new challenge each day of Lent. I told B he should do it, but not sure if he will.

Fri, Feb 27 - Set a reminder so you go to bed an hour earlier than usual. http://t.co/7e2zn5SfmR
— WhatToGiveUpForLent (@WhatToGiveUp) February 26, 2015

--- 7 ---

Next week I'm going to hang out with awesome people for a day! I'll be attending a Catholic Women's Blogging Conference on the campus of Notre Dame. I'm probably nuts for doing this at 36 weeks, but oh well. I'm a bit intimidated, since I don't live and breathe blogging, nor have plans to ever make any money from it, but hopefully I'll learn something and chat it up with homegirls like Grace and Bonnie and Sarah. (I've actually had dinner with Sarah before, so I'm excited to see her again!)

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain't the Lyceum

Recent Craftiness: Cupcakes and Hairbows

I've been seeing this sentiment go 'round the interwebz recently:

I generally agree, and that's why there haven't been too many posts with "Stuff I've Made" recently. Also, sometimes when I finally get to doin' something, I rarely also find the time to blog about it.

I made a comment on a friend's Facebook wall who posted this that I think these Pinterest mommies just never sleep, since I can never get anything like that done until after baby goes to bed for the night. I found out how true that was the night I made these:

I made these for the Thanksgiving (Round 1) at B's grandmother's house, which happened yesterday. They were a hit, and I got to impress the in-laws, but I was up until midnight the night before doing them. Dumbo/masochist me decided it would be a good idea to make half of the batter as mini cupcakes. Great idea in theory, but at 11:15pm, I stared down at them and realized I still had another 12 to go. Sigh. At least it forced me to watch the end of that Stanford/Oregon game, though.

I found the ideas online, and I think these are featured in Hello, Cupcake.
Peas: Skittles
Carrots: Starburst, cut into fourths
Butter: Starburst
Gravy: Caramel sauce
Pie filling: M&M's
Pie "crust": yellow food dye and some cocoa powder added to my homemade buttercream frosting

Also, the actual cupcakes were strawberry (from a box mix, no shame), and someone commented that with the Skittles and Starburst, they were "delightfully fruity." I have to agree.

The other thing I made last week wast inspired by a craft fair I went to recently where I saw some cute headbands/flowers that were definitely made out of old t-shirts and selling for eight bucks a pop.  So I made my own:

Flower Instructions
Headband Instructions (both from Craft Snob)

For the headband part, the directions I found said to sew it, which would be super-easy if you had a  permanent sewing station. Which I do not. We couldn't even fit my craft table in this new apartment, so it is folded up and in the little shed attached to our patio. Instead of sewing, I just kept using my glue gun.

After baby wore the headband for one day, it was already stretched out almost too much. I decided she needed an adjustable one, so I knotted it like those neon bracelets you used to get out of the vending machines (remember those?). The great thing about t-shirt fabric is that it doesn't fray so you can really try anything with it. I made some more flowers and just glued a hair clip on the back so I can change them out easily.

I don't have a pic of the adjustable headband, but it kinda looks like this, except white because I kept using the same t-shirt:

(Source) - someone actually sold these on Etsy and made money.
I think I'm in the wrong industry...

And I'll throw in one more picture of the cute kiddo, just 'cause.

Getting Crafty: Decorated Onesies

In the class I taught to expectant parents, we gave out an awesome gift bag.  In it, there were lots of baby essentials like a hooded towel, little mittens, a crib sheet, and even some Gerber onesies.  Blank, all white onesies in 6-9 month size, to be precise.  Since I forced my husband to come to my class when I was pregnant (yes, he sat there and watched me teach!), we also got a bag.  Now what to do with those boring onesies?  Let's decorate!

I got a set of fabric markers to do some drawing, and I also got some fusible backing for some fabric applique stuff.

I bought 5 yards of the Wonder-Under backing.  I think it was a bit overboard!

Here's what I came up with:

Okay, that's more than 5.  I was having so much fun I went out and bought a pack of 12-month size ones!

I had some fabric scraps around the house, including the Georgia fabirc.  I also checked the remnants and quilter's bundles at the fabric store to add to my stash.

The fusible backing is supposed to "glue" the fabrics together with just an iron, but I soon found out that it depended a lot on the fabric itself.  The UGA fabric was a thicker type and kept peeling up in the corners.  My mom was in town during this, so she hand-sewed around the designs to keep them on.  If anything, the fusible backing kept it in place for that, so it was still worth it.

The "UGA" one was done with template I created in Powerpoint.  I just wrote what I wanted and blew it up to about 150-pt font.  The onesies are about the same width of a piece of paper, so that made it easy to determine sizing.  I printed out the page, then cut out the letters.  I then flipped them over and traced them onto the back side of the fabric that had the backing on it already.

After cutting out the letters from the fabric, you just peel a layer away from the backing and it's ready to iron.

The fabric pens were soooo easy!  And so much better than using puff paint.  I had seen the "I'm acute baby" onesie online at some point and thought, "Why should I pay $15 for that?!"  It was almost too easy.  I used a blue washout marking pencil (an essential in any sewing kit) to sketch the design on and then just traced over it with a piece of cardboard underneath the top layer.  I printed out the other designs and eyeballed them.  (I probably should have traced the ND shamrock, but oh well.)  I think the robot is my favorite; I found it by searching Etsy for "robot" and then finding one I could easily draw.  I'm planning on doing one with momma and baby owls, but this has proved much more challenging due to my lack of drawing skills and the intricacy of owl designs.  It's also insanely easier to draw straight lines on fabric, I've found out.

If I ever have to plan someone's baby shower, we are definitely doing this!  But as I've found out, it's still fun to do even after the baby comes.  Baby can wear it immediately, so you even get instant gratification!

Oh, did I forget to mention that I put something on the back of the UGA bunting one?

My future bulldog!

adventures in crochet

Not only is it on my 101 List, but it was also on my "focused" before-baby list. And hey, I think I've found a new hobby I enjoy!

✔ 41. Crochet or knit a scarf

I spent about 2 weeks just learning a few stitches and techniques, using both Crochet Geek videos and a book I got from the library geared toward children (pictured on the right).

 I also had to get someone to help me in person a bit because I just wasn't holding things right (that's my one of my gripes about Crochet Geek's video), and not using the hook to its full potential. My mom and sister sorta showed me when I was home for my GA baby shower.  The book only taught the single crochet stitch, but from the videos I learned a few more stitches.  I'm glad I did all that for a bit and didn't just dive head-first into a project.

I posted on an online forum for some help and was advised to try making a hat before a scarf.  It sounds weird, but it was great advice! It forced me to learn slip stitch/joining, crochet in circles, COUNT, and read a pattern. And it only took me a few days (I did it while we were traveling for Thanksgiving). My stitch got pretty consistent, also.  Here's the hat I made for my niece:

The border was a happy accident.

I knew her head was large, so I added a round or 2.  But then it turned out a bit too big.

Here's the Crochet Geek video I followed for the hat.  The hardest part was the very beginning--I restarted it about 5 times until I figured it out.

After this achievement, I decided it was time to try a scarf.  I joined Ravelry, an online community for knit and crochet with a huge pattern database, got some pretty yarn, and decided on a pattern called "easy ribbed scarf" that looked both simple and interesting.  I mostly worked on it in the car while B drove us various places.

The results:

The pattern actually added fringe to the ends, but my scarf was already longer than what the finished (including fringe) measurement should be.  Maybe I'll put some on later, but this is fine for now.

Pardon my exercise/"birthing" ball back there.

The stitch was a double crochet in the back loop only, which created the ribbing.

Also, while I was at it, I decided to make a simple headband that I'd found by some means or another and thrown on Pinterest.

The tutorial can be found here.

Even if you don't know how to crochet, I bet that headband could be made with a simple braid.  And I think that knot has an official name, I just can't think of it right now, but I'm pretty sure I learned it in Girl Scouts  (sheet bend knot??).

With my scarf and matching headband!

I haven't actually had a need for a scarf here in FL yet  . . .

I now have other crochet projects up my sleeve (including a stuffed animal).  I'm really loving this new hobby of mine!